Batons or nightsticks carried by Police Officers are well known and have been in use for many years. Such batons have also been combined with other devices. For example, a projectile launcher baton is disclosed in a U.S. Pat. No. 3,728,809 of Mulich et al. As disclosed therein a projectile launcher in the form of a stun baton or nightstick, which is comprised of a barrel assembly having a receiver therein with in its inward end, and a coaxial handle assembly which includes a firing mechanism, a firing mechanism safety, and a breech member disposed at one end thereof. The receiver end of the barrel assembly and the breech end of the handle assembly are respectively connected to opposing halves of a novel split collar ring. The halves of the collar ring are hinged axially for rotatably pivoting the handle portion transversely with the face of the receiver to provide for insertion of the projectile, and after firing for removal of the spent cartridge. A releasable locking mechanism is further provided to lock and align the assemblies in coaxial orientation whereupon release of the mechanism allows the pivotable rotation of the assemblies for disassociation therewith.
A more recent U.S. patent of LaCroix, U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,277 discloses a multi-purpose baton that serves as a baton or nightstick in a conventional way, with an additional self-contained operational provision when selectively activated for providing threatening sparking along the projecting length portion thereof, a concentrated continuous ring like threatening sparking around the projecting end thereof and/or the emitting of a temporary laser beam of light from the projecting end thereof. The blinding of a person lasts only during the operation of the laser light of the improved hand carried stick. When a person or persons must be threatened to be subdued or be subdued by a person charged with law enforcement, the self contained electrical energy of this baton is supplied by one of two 9 volt direct current batteries. The electrical energy is converted via self contained electrical components with 50,000 volts of electrical energy available for discharge at two microamperes of current. The discharges via sparking, occur along and across spaced pairs of positive and negative charged conductive strips longitudinally positioned along the projecting length portion of the baton or stick to create the threatening observable random sparking during all operational discharge times. Also, if these unlike charged pairs of conductive strips are touched then the person so touching is quickly subdued by receiving the 50,000 volts at this low current.
Finally, a baton with an integral projectile launcher is disclosed in a U.S. Pat. No. 3,728,809 of Lyon. As disclosed in the Lyon patent, a police baton side arm having a baton main body and a cross handle which is attached in a perpendicular manner to the baton main body at a position longitudinally displaced from the geometric center of the baton main body. The baton main body also houses a recessed trigger ahead of the cross handle and means for launching a projectile. In order to achieve impact insensitivity a double action only firing mechanism is employed. The baton main body is constructed in two parts to accommodate breech loading and various connection schemes including interrupted and multi-load threads on abutting portions of the baton main body. Guide rods or enhanced mechanisms may be provided to accommodate one handed loading. The police baton may also be equipped with a gun sight and a laser pointing device for improving the accuracy of the user's aim.
Notwithstanding the above it is presently believed that there is a need and a potential commercial market for an improved police baton or nightstick in accordance with the present invention. There should be a need for such batons because they include an integral flashlight, firing mechanism and a storage area for plastic restraints that can be used to immobilize an individual. Further, it is believed that the baton in the present invention will provide a police officer with a compact defense weapon as well as a weapon that can be used to arrest and detain wrong doers and to be more effective in carrying out their duties to maintain a peaceful environment. In addition, it is believed that batons in accordance with the present invention are sturdy, relatively compact and can be produced at a competitive cost.